Football: Jack Westburg’s short night doesn’t lack tradition in GV victory

CONCORD — Jack Westburg has been going to football games at Garnet Valley since he was in third grade. Having two older brothers – Nick, in the class of 2019, and Alex in 2020 – who played prominent roles for the Jaguars will tend to monopolize your Friday night plans.

Those kids darting along the hill above Moe DeFrank Stadium for Friday’s Homecoming against Penncrest, Westburg was there once upon a time, with friends growing into varsity teammates. He was one of the freshmen and sophomores given a run in the second halves of lopsided games like Friday’s 47-7 win over Penncrest, too.

Now atop Garnet Valley’s proverbial mountain, he’s appreciative of the journey to get there.

“I loved watching my brothers play,” the senior running back/defensive back said. “They inspired me to play, especially Nick. We’ve been in the same positions, and he’s been training me how to be a great football player.”

Westburg’s workload was light Friday: Two carries, 66 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown on GV’s third play from scrimmage to stake the Jaguars to a 13-0 lead. It was one of five touchdowns of 45 yards or more, and his robust yards-per-carry average was in line with the Jags racking up 412 yards on 34 carries. That’s 12.1 yards per tote, down from 13.5 in a first half where the starters rushed for 283 yards.

It was more than enough for the Jaguars (7-0, 6-0) to extend their Central League winning streak to 40 games. The scoring started 14 seconds in, when Ronnie Leraris took a carry off right end 69 yards to the house. Westburg’s touchdown owed to a stellar block from tailback Jason Bernard to seal the outside edge and give Westburg a clear cut-back lane to dance through traffic.

“We call him Bus, and he absolutely ran over that guy,” Westburg said of Bernard. “That’s what set the block to get me in the end zone, and it was awesome.”

Joseph Checchio’s one-yard touchdown was set up by a 45-yard connection between Matt Mesaros and Leraris to make it 20-0 less than nine minutes in. Mesaros hit Drew Van Horn for a 69-yard score in the second quarter, then pulled an option handoff at the last moment to dash for a 45-yard score.

The starters made way with the lead at 40-0 late in the first quarter. Garnet Valley would tack on in the fourth, Dean Koehler bobbling a pitch, dodging two attempts by the Lions to drag him down in his own end zone for a safety, then jetting 96 yards.

Even with his day done, Westburg and the starters remained locked in on the sidelines. They once used the experience of garbage time to prepare for their moments in the spotlight. It’s the way standards and tradition and all those pillars of Garnet Valley identity are passed down.

In addition to his brothers, Westburg had All-Delco wide receiver Sean Gallagher showing him the ropes. He’s now honored to serve in that role for others.

“It’s just awesome seeing them grow,” Westburg said. “My biggest mentor was Sean Gal. He taught me everything, and he texts me every game about how I played, and I love that. That’s how I want to be when I’m done playing football.”

Penncrest (1-6, 1-4), down a handful of regulars due to injury, battled on offense, stringing together a few promising series. But the Lions struggled when they fell behind the chains, leading to six punts and two lost fumbles. One, a bad punt snap, led to a 10-yard touchdown return by Trevor Saccomandi. The second, recovered by Nick Romaniello, short-circuited a drive at the 5.

The Lions finally got on the board with 2:55 left when Sean O’Donnell found Matt Ferry for a 37-yard touchdown. Ferry ran 14 times for 72 yards.

Garnet Valley’s quest for a fifth straight Central League title is mostly complete. It visits Lower Merion next Saturday, has an unexpected bye week with Harriton dropping out of the league schedule, then finishes with a tricky affair against Conestoga.

One of the messages that Westburg was sure to share Friday was that the schedule is not a reason to take anyone lightly. It’s certainly one that has been passed to him from older generations.

“We just stay focused,” he said. “We treat every game as a playoff game and we just want to go out there and beat our next opponent.”